A Medieval Mystery Can yu decde the dark secrets f this cartn? 1233: A tax rll with a nasty tale t tell (E 401/1565) Tax recrds can tell us a great deal abut life in the Middle Ages. They dn't usually cme with pictures, but this ne des. It is a cartn frm 1233 during the reign f King Henry III. It's a detailed, cmplex cartn and it is a bit f a mystery. It was fund n an Exchequer Rll, a kind f gvernment dcument recrding varius payments that is stred rlled up. This rll listed tax payments made by Jewish peple in the city f Nrwich in Nrflk. 1. Lk at the cartn and see if yu can find: A castle Pitchfrks A set f scales A wman A crwn Devils
2. S far, what d yu think the cartn might be abut? 3. Nw read the Backgrund sectin belw. Des this give yu a better idea f what the message f the cartn is? 4. Lk at the left hand part f the cartn image. What is the man hlding? What d yu think he culd be weighing? What des this man d? What is behind him and why des it have a frked tngue? 5. Nw lk at the centre f the cartn. Wh are the peple shwn here? Hw has the cartnist shwn that the man and the wman are Jewish? Can yu wrk ut the name f the demn? (Hint: Lk at the letters n either side f him)
6. Lk at the largest figure in the centre f the cartn. Wh d yu think he is suppsed t be? Why des he have three faces? He isn't a king s why is he wearing a crwn? D yu think he is standing in his wn castle r is he in hell being trmented by demns? Why d yu think that?
7. Nw lk at the right hand side f the cartn. What d yu think these characters are suppsed t be? List what each f them is carrying. What d yu think their rle is within the cartn?
8. Have yu unravelled the mystery behind the cartn? What is yur final cnclusin n what the cartn's message is? Backgrund Infrmatin Persecutin f the Jews The terrible treatment f Jews by the Nazi Gvernment in the 1930s and 1940s was nt a new event. Thugh nthing had ever been seen n the scale f the appalling 'Final Slutin' begun in 1942 in which 6 millin were murdered, Jews have been the victims f mistreatment since Rman times, as their different religin and their success in business attracted hatred and jealusy. Laws were smetimes passed against them, such as the 1215 ruling by the Cathlic Church that Jewish men had t wear spiked hats t identify them. At ther times they have been made t wear stars n their clthing r change their names. At the time this rll was written Jews in England were subjected t heavy taxes, had prperty stlen r cnfiscated and were smetimes attacked. The mst serius attack n a Jewish cmmunity was the Yrk Massacre in 1190 in which 150 Jews were killed as they tk refuge in Cliffrd's Twer, ne f
the city's castles. The 12th century histrian William f Newburgh accused the twnspeple f an attempt at 'sweeping away the whle race in their city'. Medieval Nrwich In the 13th century, Nrwich was ne f the largest and mst imprtant twns in England. One f its richest and mst pwerful residents was Isaac fil Jurnet, a Jewish mney lender wh wned a large amunt f prperty in the city and was a banker t the king. T sme jealus citizens Isaac seemed like a srt f king himself. Isaac emplyed ther Jews t cllect the mney that brrwers in the city wed t him. The mst well knwn (and mst disliked) were Msse Mkke and his wife Abigail. This cartn is an example f the feelings many peple had twards Jews in medieval England. It is abut real peple and their situatin within 13th century sciety. Teacher's Ntes This lessn is suitable fr KS3 Histry Unit 19: 'Hw and why did the Hlcaust happen?' and culd als be used t supprt Citizenship at KS3 Unit 4: 'Britain - a diverse sciety?'. The cartn depicts the prfundly negative way in which Jews were viewed in 13th century England. Their situatin did nt imprve. In 1290 King Edward I expelled every Jew frm England, the first time this had happened anywhere in Eurpe. Thusands f men, wmen and children were frced t leave fr the Cntinent and Jews were nt fficially allwed t live in Britain again until 1655. There are a number f figures in the cartn that we can identify: Isaac fil Jurnet Isaac fil Jurnet was ne f the richest Jews in England and certainly the richest Jew in Nrwich, where he and his family had lived fr a number f generatins. Isaac was much richer than many Christians living at the same time. Like many Jews, Isaac was a mney-lender. Christians were frbidden frm lending mney at interest t make a prfit but Jews were allwed t d this, thugh they were banned frm mst ther prfessins. Isaac was the chief mney-lender t the Abbt and mnks f Westminster. He tk them t curt t get interest n the mney they had brrwed. As a result f this he became the target f ppsitin frm Pandulf, the Bishp f Nrwich, wh wanted t see all Jews thrwn ut f the cuntry t 'beynd the seas'. Isaac was als a merchant and wned a dck in Nrwich. The Abbt and mnks were nt the nly nes in debt - whle districts f the city wed him mney.
Isaac is pictured with a triple beard t assciate him with the devil and suggest sexual excess. Demns were ften linked t the seductin f wmen, s again this is a very negative prtrayal f a Jew. Msse Mkke Msse Mkke wrked fr Isaac, cllecting the mney wed t him. Mney in medieval England was made frm precius metals, and was wrth as much as it weighed. This caused prblems because peple wuld 'clip' pieces ff the edge f cins and use these pieces t make anther cin. The cins that had been clipped were hard t detect and were used t pay fr gds despite being wrth less than they appeared. Many peple were tempted t clip cins but it was a crime - punishable by death. Hwever, Msse Mkke was a rather shady character. He had been charged fr beating smene up in 1230 and in 1242 he was caught clipping cins and was executed. Abigail Anther well knwn figure in medieval Nrwich was Abigail, r Avegay, wh sme said was the wife f Msse Mkke. She was knwn fr usury - the cllecting f very high interest n a lan. Jewish wmen were much mre likely t run businesses than Christian wmen and culd becme quite rich. The Devils In the cartn we can see a devil named Clbif (centre) and anther called Dagn (t the right f Isaac). Clbif is shwn pinting t the hked nses f Abigail and Mses as if t liken them t himself, s the cartn is prviding a visual shrthand assciating demns with Jews. Even the devils' fingers are drawn t lk like hked nses t re-enfrce the idea. The characters are prtrayed in prfile t emphasise this. All f the devils are shwn with hrns in rder t link them with animals. Again, by shwing the devils as part man and part beast, the cartnist is assciating the Jews with sin; they are nt in made in Gd's image. The semi-nakedness f the devils is als used t suggest barbarity. Finally, there is a reference t a devil named Mammn. Mammn is mentined in the Bible in the gspels f Matthew and Luke and is assciated with greed, the name cmes frm the ancient Aramaic wrd fr riches. Aramaic is ne f the Semitic languages, which als includes Arabic, Hebrew, Ethipic, and ancient Babylnian and Assyrian. The images in this lessn are taken frm dcument E 401/1565 at The Natinal Archives.